Blitz
by Vanesky
Summary: Always moving, always with a single goal in mind, Lena Lehnsherr has never stayed anywhere for long. This time, she might be given a reason to. CharlesXavier/OC
1. Blitz

"L'eau, s'il vous plaît," Erik nodded at the stewardess. She nodded in return, then looked to me for my drink order.

"Un chardonnay, réfrigérés," I said, crossing my legs. Hopefully Alcohol would be able to numb the excruciatingly long plane ride from France to Argentina.

"Très bon," she responded, "Rien d'autre?" She leaned slightly forward, asking my brother more so than me.

We both shook our heads and she smiled widely at him, "Je reviendrai," The lady turned towards the back cabin, to fetch our drinks.

I raised a lone brow at Erik, in which he returned with a mirrored expression. "What?" He asked before I did.

"Nothing," I shrugged and leaned back into the headrest. "My brother, ever the charmer," I mused.

He rolled his eyes, choosing not to retort, and looked across me and through the window. I followed his gaze and stared at the vast blue ocean below us.

"We're going pretty far this time," I said dryly at the distance we'll be from Europe. We never had a home after the war, but the entire continent was the closest thing I could call to it.

"There's a chance that he'll be there, are you ready?" He reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, "Lena?"

"I've been ready since 1945," I swallowed the lump in my throat and frowned, "Though, I don't like that there's only a chance."

"I don't like it anymore than you do, but I can feel it, we're close. It will no longer be only a chance," He said seriously, "We'll get him."

I huffed and changed the subject, opting to not think about the man we had been hunting down for the short time I could allow myself to do so. "Maybe I'll finally get a decent souvenir. The one from the bank doesn't count, the metal filling wasn't really festive."

I could hear him hold back a snort and as I looked at him the corners of his lips were slightly lifted, "Maybe we'll just get a postcard."

"Voici les boissons," The stewardess reappeared with the drinks, handing them to us.

"Merci," Erik tilted his head forward and sipped at the water. She smiled widely again, and walked back to her station, taking quick peeks back at him as she made her way.

I gulped at the wine and closed my eyes, hoping to at least get some rest before we arrived at the airport.

* * *

Villa Gessel was beautiful in all its glory. Warm in the late afternoon sun, the closeby sparkling blue lake, and a backdrop of striking white-tipped mountains. It was unfortunate that the reason we were there wasn't because of recreational purposes.

Erik walked briskly as I trailed behind him, he was a man with a mission. Well, we both had a mission today, but his eyes were dead set on the cabin-like pub in front of us. I could feel the focus radiating off his back. My own body was tense, contrasting with the gentle breeze that blew by.

It was a day of reckoning.

He entered the pub more casually than before, a kind of swagger in his steps, and placed his hat and jacket on the coat stand. "Buenas tardes, Caballeros," he greeted the three men.

"Buenas tardes," the bartender welcomed back.

I smiled as an acknowledgement to the two men, before I joined Erik at the bar.

"Calor, no?" I heard him say with the bartender replying yes, "Una cerveza, por favor."

I eyed him, getting a beer at this time, he just eyed me back and tapped at his elbow before setting his gaze at a picture on the right wall. Following his gaze, the face I truly wished wasn't so familiar to me stared back at us, it was Schmidt. He was with two other men on a boat named the Caspartina.

Erik blinked a few times before turning away to the beer given to him. Adrenaline rushed into my veins, now knowing that we were on the absolute right track. We were close, like Erik said, so unbelievably close to getting what we wanted. My back tingled as I recognized the two men in the picture to be the ones behind us. I tapped my nails against the counter, not able to keep still. Erik nudged me, recognizing one of my habits. It was time to keep calm, he would take the lead.

"German beer," he exclaimed in German, with a small pleasantly surprised tone, I could never fathom how easily he kept his cool.

"Claro," the Bartender replied, wiping a cup down.

Erik gulped down the beer and one of the men behind us laughed, "Yes, it's Bitburger, you like?"

His mouth slightly twitched and he smirked, faking a tiny laugh, "The best." Erik turned around to face the two men, playing checkers and drinking beer. It irked me that they could afford to so easily become relaxed after everything they had done in their lives.

"What brings you to Argentina?" Erik asked politely.

"Oh, the climate, I'm a pig farmer," he laughed loudly again and Erik laughed with with him, I could only manage a small wry smile.

The other man with a cigarette in hand joined in, "Tailor, since I was a boy. My father made the finest suits in Dusseldorf."

"Our parents were from Dusseldorf," my brother exclaimed reaching a hand out to join them at the table. I knew where this was going.

"What was their name," the tailor said, taking a puff from his cigarette.

"They didn't have a name," Erik said, taking a seat. The men looked at each other in minor suspicion.

"It was taken from them," he brought his beer glass up to the men's to clink against and they reluctantly went along with him, "by pig farmers…. and tailors," Erik's teeth gleamed as he smiled.

All three men drank their beers as they observed each other, one clearly more relaxed than the others. As they set the beers down, Erik slowly turned his arm over to reveal the scar of a tattoo on his arm.

I chuckled at his showmanship at the two looked at me, the defenseless woman, with the smallest of hope in their eyes, like this was a cruel joke. Shaking my head, I pulled my sleeve up and exposed my own set of numbers. Recognition filled their faces.

In a flash the pig farmer unsheathed a dagger from his side, with the intention of attacking Erik. But Erik grabbed his wrist and pinned his arm to the table, taking the dagger out of his hand.

He read the inscription, "Blood and honor. Which one would you like to shed first?"

"We were under orders," the man desperately pleaded him, like it would change the fact he did what he had.

"Blood then," Erik said, raising up the knife to stab his palm, he screamed in pain.

I sat at the bar unflinching, used to his usual antics. The bartender grabbed me from behind yelling, "Freeze, bastard," he held a gun against my head, assuming that it was a smart move to hold me hostage. I remained motionless, giving absolute trust in Erik's abilities.

Erik stared at him and the gun moved, to his frightened bewilderment, at the tailor and a shot was fired, the tailor going down with it.

"Lena," he said quietly.

"Yeah," I replied as he let go of his control on the gun. The Bartender quickly directed it at him, but before his finger could even touch the trigger I grasped the arm that was wrapped around my neck and shocked him. I could see the blue electrical currents flow through his body as he fell to the floor.

Brushing my hair back from my face, I looked at the remaining pig farmer who gasped in fear, looking from me to Erik, "Who… what are you?"

Erik drank what was left of his beer and answered him, "Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's monster." He got up and walked to the picture, "And I'm looking for my creator." His arm reached out to grab the gun that levitated into his hand and quickly turned to shoot the squirming man once and for all.

* * *

We swam in the dark water, towards the large illuminated yacht, Caspartina, that the picture from the bar had given evidence of. As we arrived, our heads broke from underneath the cold surface and the two of us swam closer.

My stomach was in knots knowing that in a matter of minutes we would be encountering the man we had been hunting for so many years. Before we climbed up the chained ladder, which Erik had made go over the side to us, I touched his arm to momentarily stop him.

I would have rather not reminded him, but I had to, recalling his reckless tendencies. This was the big one, and his choices would mean a lot more this time. "Remember," I whispered sternly, "to live, it's together or nothing."

He nodded briskly, "Together or nothing," and turned to the ladder to climb up.

We remained crouched as we approached the source of the light on the yacht. Erik stood and unsheathed the dagger he had taken from the pig farmer. Blood and honor.

I had joked earlier that this was a decent replacement for the filling. He laughed then, but he wasn't laughing now.

His head motioned around the corner and he walked ahead, revealing himself. I followed closely and stepped in the light almost as soon as he did.

"Herr Doktor," Erik said, carefully getting closer.

I looked to see three people. A man off to the side and a blonde woman immediately on the left of the man in the middle. We had finally found him, Schmidt was right in front of us. The group stood up in alarm but Schmidt held one of them back, seemingly not threatened by our appearance.

"Little Erik Lehnsherr," he said, smiling and reciprocating Erik's German, "and with sister, Lena Lehnsherr."

"He's here to kill you," the blonde woman told him.

I was down on the floor before I could tell what was happening to me, my hands trying to cover my head from the pain, but failing to. Barely managing to open an eye, all I could see was Erik in a similar position. Crouched, and suffering.

Images started to replace my vision, the buried memories of torture and abuse flashed before my eyes. It felt like someone was stabbing my brain while simultaneously stretching it apart.

The pain abruptly stopped as I looked up to see Erik throwing the knife at the woman, who was now covered in diamonds. She caught it easily and kicked him off the yacht. I lunged forward, resonating with static blue energy to bring her down. She kicked me off as well, but not before I could smell the bit of burning I was able to inflict on her diamond skin.

Right as I managed to surface the water and breath, a large horn sounded, lights started to flood the area surrounding the yacht.

"This is the US Coast Guard, do not attempt to move your vessel."

Boats were quickly headed towards our direction, no doubt ready to take out anyone anywhere near their target.

"Fuck," I yelled as I saw Erik wading nearby, "what are we going to do now?"

I heard a furious rushing and two twin tornadoes took out the boats that were trying to get to the yacht.

Erik glanced at me and stuck his arm out, the anchor and chains of the ship coming out of the water.

I looked back in confirmation and reached my own arm out, electrifying the tip of the anchor. He threw at the boat and spliced through it, destroying the top two decks. Wrapping the chains around the body, he pulled back the walls collapsed in on themselves, a fire starting at the electrical current coursing through the wood.

"They're getting away," I announced feeling the workings of the submarine underneath us.

His eyes widened in a mad frenzy, his face tensing up, his arms raised in protest.

"No!" I shouted, as he begun to be dragged along with the sub, "You'll drown!"

I wanted to do something, anything, but there was no conductor that could've connected me with the escaping submarine. I was rendered useless unless I wanted to shock and kill everything in the surrounding waters and Erik knew I would never do that, even if it meant we would get Schmidt.

I jumped and grabbed at his torso before he could escape from my reach, desperately trying to get him to stay in place. "It's together or nothing!" I painstakingly yelled, while water filled my mouth, "Together or nothing!"

He paid no attention to me and his eyes remained set on the sub. Faintly, I could hear the voice of someone in background shouting at us, but it disappeared as Erik was pulled down into the water, me along with him.

I held onto Erik, chancing that by maybe saving my life, he would save his own too. The water enveloped us as I struggled to remind him, the bubbles blocking my sight, my own depleting oxygen.

A hand grabbed at my shoulder and next to me a man tried pulling me back. I kicked him off, not knowing who the hell he was, but he remained on me and his voice abruptly pierced into my head, "_Let me save him._"

I eyed him in alarm, "_Let me save him_."

Reluctantly I let him latch on, if it meant that Erik would live. The man struggled with my brother, trying to keep him back. There was no doubt that he was doing a similar thing to Erik as he did to me. Erik finally relaxed, relented, and the both of us swam Erik up to the surface, all of us gasping for breath when we reached it.

"Get off me! Get off!" Erik shouted at him pushing him away and holding me back, away from the man.

"Calm down, just breathe," he told him and then yelled back to the Coast Guard's ship, "We're here!'

"Who are you?" Erik spat out as he spat water out.

"My name is Charles Xavier," he said, swimming against the current.

"You were in my head," Erik's statement sounded more like a question and I could detect the slightest hint of vulnerability. I wondered what Charles had said to him. "How did you do that."

"You have your tricks, I have mine. I'm like you. Just calm your mind," his expression stern in his need for Erik to cool down.

Erik took a couple of breaths at his surprise, "I thought we were alone."

"You're not a alone," Charles corrected him. "Erik," he turned his head to me aswell, "Lena, you're not alone."

I wasn't sure if I could trust his words, but even so, an enormous uncontrolled sense of relief flooded my being.

We were not alone.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter we'll get to know Lena more, there was a ton of action in this one and she's not the most talkative person so I thought it would be natural if she remained more silent than not.**

**I absolutely loved the beginning of first class, with all the different languages, so I used some French and Spanish. I was going to go all out with the German too, but I figured it was too much. **

**So here are the translations for anything not in english (apologies if anything is inaccurate, google translate is my friend) :  
**

Water, please

A chardonnay, chilled

very good, anything else, I'll be back

here are the drinks

thanks

good afternoon gentlemen

good afternoon

hot, no?

a beer please

of course


	2. A Chance

"Here you go," a blonde woman said, handing me a blanket, "do you want something warm to drink?"

I took the blanket gladly, but shook my head, "No, thank you."

"You're Lena right? Charles said…" she started to stay before pausing and smiling instead, "I'm Raven," she stuck her arm out to shake mine.

I returned the gesture and nodded, "Lena."

Looking out the window, Erik was being talked to very animately by Charles, if it hadn't been for him, we would've drowned to death. Oddly, I wasn't as grateful as I thought I should've been and more irritated than anything else. Erik, feeling my gaze, motioned for me to come over to them. I ignored him, turned away and walked to the opposite deck, not in the mood to talk to him.

The cold wind was sharp against my face and hair as the boat sped to wherever the hell we were going. The water was still almost black, but in the far east, the inkling of the sunrise was beginning to form.

"Lena," the door opened behind me, "It's cold, come inside."

Refusing to look back, I remained ignoring him, as if he hadn't said anything.

After a long silence, with neither of us uttering a word, he finally relented, "Why are you upset?"

I gripped the railing tightly, feeling a surge of energy in my core spreading to my fists. The electricity spilled out onto the metal and I watched it dance around before I absorbed it back.

"Control yourself," he said, making me whip my head at him. Erik walked closer and reached his hand out to brush my hair back, but I stopped him, avoiding his touch. He lost some of his patience this time, "What is it?"

I gripped the railing tighter and stared as my knuckles turned white, "You could've died."

"Oh," he said, sounding if he were almost relieved, "but I didn't."

"That's not the point," I spat, still refusing to take a glance.

"What's the point then," Erik's impatience reappeared in his tone.

"It was together or nothing," I barely managed to utter under my breath.

"Lena…" he reached out once more, but I hit his arm away.

Struggling to my calm myself, I closed my eyes, "Please, just let me be for now."

The sound of resignation echoed in his steps and the door opened and closed once again.

I breathed hard, trying to calm my mind, much like Charles had commanded Erik to do before. Soon my feelings would blow over and everything would go back to normal, but right now I was angry. Honestly I wanted to slap Erik even if he could only feel the fraction of the hurt he had inflicted on me by his stupidly rash decision. At that moment, even if fury and rage had made him blind, he had still chosen death over life. Though I knew that ultimately he was still here, still alive, it didn't mean I wanted to be anywhere near him for the next couple of hours.

The now familiar creek of the door sounded and I sighed, wishing he would just leave me be like I told him to before, "Go away."

"Apologies if I was disturbing anything, just wanted to see if you wanted some."

I looked over my shoulder to see Charles holding up a pitcher and two mugs. "Thought you were Erik," I said coolly to our savior.

"No, I'm afraid I'm not," he chuckled and poured the hot chocolate in the cup before I could stop him, "Here, have some."

I sighed and reluctantly took it from him since he had already poured it out. My hands stayed wrapped around the mug, warmed by the heat. I didn't drink it, not in the mood for anything sweet at the moment.

He took a large sip and leaned forward onto the railing, swirling the dark liquid around the edges, "It is, surprisingly good."

Still not in the mood, I continued to look out at the ocean and at the tip of the sun rising above the waters. Orange had begun to taint the dark blue of the sky and the water brightened along with it.

"Lovely sunrise, isn't?" Charles asked pleasantly, a faint smile on his lips.

I shrugged and combed my hair back, hoping it would fully dry soon. It had began to lighten from it's brunette to an odd light brown mix as the sun shone brighter.

"It'll get cold," he gestured to the untouched mug in my hand.

"Did you need something?" I finally said, not wanting to continue listening to his little comments.

"Yes," he obliged, "I wanted to formally invite you to come along with us, I've already invited Erik."

I quirked a brow at him, dismissive of his question, "Is that what you really wanted to ask me?"

His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, "I understand what your brother means to you. I wanted to make sure you were alright." Genuine concern laced his voice and I had the smallest inkling to actually answer his question, but I didn't as another thought manifested itself.

"Why don't you just read my mind then, since you've already had the courtesy of doing so," I said, wrapping my blanket closer around me, uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.

"You're very intuitive," he chuckled once again, sticking his hands in his pockets, "But I would rather ask you myself."

"Well, I'll have to ask you something," I shoved the mug back in his hands, "Stay out of my head." I walked away from him to the front of the boat and found a supply box to sit on.

Holding myself together, I watched the sun rise.

* * *

The agent, after introducing his facility and informing us that _we were to be something like _the CIA's new mutant division, took us on a tour, leading us to a large lab. All of us marveled at a large and sleek airplane that hung inside before a voice chimed in, "It's a, supersonic."

I turned to see a relatively young looking scientist making his way towards us, "The most advanced plane ever built," he pointed at it, "you should see it in real life, it's incredible."

"Hank, these are the special new recruits I was telling you about," the agent gestured towards us and then motioned to him, "This is Hank McCoy, one of our most talented young researchers." He was young, surprisingly so, but he seemed meek in presence, like he was hiding behind his glasses.

Charles walked forward to shake his hand, "How wonderful. Another mutant already here, why didn't you say?" He looked back and questioned the agent.

"Say what?" The man said, oblivious to the situation at hand.

Charles' face immediately blanked and he turned apologetically back to Hank, "I am so, so terribly sorry." Hank shook his head and dismissed it, but his head angled down as if he were ashamed.

The agent carefully walked to him surprised to what had been just revealed, "Hank?"

"You didn't ask so I didn't tell," he answered, shrugging.

"So your mutation is what,' Raven strided closer to them, "you're super smart?"

"I'll say," Charles agreed, "Hank here graduated Harvard at age 15."

I was impressed by that, truly, Hank seemed _super smart_ and given the fact he was a mutant only added to the equation. What I couldn't get out of my head was that Charles had scooped all this from his mind, unknowingly to Hank. True, he had what appeared to be non-malicious intentions, but It felt like he had no sense of boundaries.

"I wish that's all it was," Hank admitted to her.

"You're among friends now, Hank. You can show off," Charles told him.

I leaned forward to see him shuffling to take off his shoes, Erik stayed back, not as interested as the rest of us were. Somehow the two of us were the only ones who had not gotten closer to him during the ensuing conversation.

Hank's feet were, animalistic, if that was the right word. The toes were elongated and spread apart as if he were an ape. A sense of awe came before me, never having met someone like that before and knowing first hand that he was just like us, different.

Charles breathed in a delighted laugh, "Splendid."

"Sorry," he waved the crowd around him to move and he flipped upwards to hang by his feet on the wing of the airplane, "Ta-dah," Hank said, showing off his ability.

Raven got closer to him again, "You're amazing."

"Really?" he smiled and I held a smile of my own back too. I could empathize with him, being different his whole life, feeling like it was wrong, but the acceptance in the air was tangible. I wondered if Raven was the only person in his life who has ever complimented him on his ability and from the looks of the two, it wouldn't be the last time.

* * *

A quick knock sounded at my door. I recognized it immediately and scrambled up to unlock it, letting Erik in.

"Talking to me again?" He asked, an almost hidden smirk on his face.

"Depends," I said, sitting back on the window sill, bringing one my knee up to my chin, "On what you have to say." Both of us knew that this act was just an act now. Being that he was all I had I couldn't choose to ignore him for long.

Erik sat on the bed across from me and tapped at his briefcase, "I'm getting the information we need and then we're leaving."

I frowned at the short notice and probably at other reasons as well. I only trusted one person person in the whole world and he was sitting in front of me. There was suppose to be no hesitation, but I felt it. There was a tug inside me telling me to stay. I didn't know these people and they didn't know me, though somehow they've already made a mark, no matter how miniscule it was.

Hank, who had never revealed himself before this day, Raven, who had readily accepted him right away, and even Charles, the prying mind reader who seemed so happy about giving us a place to be ourselves.

But it didn't matter, not when my brother was in question. I was going with him.

I looked outside at the dark lawn, illuminated by the numerous outdoor lights, the moon had risen high in the sky, "When?"

"Right now," Erik stood and walked up to exit the room, "Get a car, I'll be there in 20 minutes if not less." The soft thud of a closed door signaled me to get ready to go.

I guess whatever could've been, won't be.

I slid out of my room and strided briskly through the hallways, taking the only familiar path of exit that weren't the main doors. Opening the doors to the large lab we had been in earlier, I sped towards the side, seeing the dark grass through the windows.

"Going somewhere?" A voice broke the empty silence of the lab.

I spun around to see Hank, clad in his lab coat, behind numerous amounts of different chemicals.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to be here?" I said, not immediately answering his question.

Hank nodded, but continued, "Could say the same for you," he pushed his glasses up and slightly frowned, "Are you… is everything okay?"

I wondered how much my face actually gave away, but maybe he was just naturally attentive, "Getting a breath of fresh air, if that's allowed."

He blinked a couple of times, unsure of himself, "Yeah, um, that's allowed. If you need anything let me know."

"Will do," I replied and finished my brisk walk to the door.

Stepping outside, the chilled air hit the tip of my nose, making the rest of my skin stand. I quickly found myself in front of one of the identical black cars lined up in the far side of the front of the facility.

I tried the door first and rolled my eyes when it clicked open with no problem, so much for the CIA. Tearing off the bottom panel under the steering wheel, I identified and grabbed the appropriate wires and charged them myself, blue electricity rolling of my fingers. The car engine started to hum and I inserted the panel back to where it belonged.

Sitting in the driver's seat, I drummed the steering wheel, waiting for Erik to arrive. I placed the back of my hand against the window, feeling the cold condensation of the night. I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of regret, leaving this place. Nothing had started quite yet, and from the looks of it I wouldn't be there when it did.

The passenger door opened and Erik sat beside me, briefcase in hand.

"Ready?"

"Lena," he started, capturing my attention by the odd severity in his voice, "We're staying."

I quirked my head and rubbed at the steering wheel, surprised at what I was hearing, "Where did that come from?"

"We," Erik paused and took a second to recollect his thoughts, "We have the chance to be part of something… something much bigger than ourselves and-"

"Okay," I turned to look at him in the eye.

"What?" Erik's forehead creased in surprise.

"We're staying."

"And you're alright with that?" He tilted his head closer to mine.

"I'll stay… with you."

Erik nodded and stepped out of the car and I walked back to the facility with him.

I was staying with Erik, like I had originally planned to do, but I was also staying with the people inside, people that were like me.

I was staying with the chance to be _a part of something much bigger than myself._

* * *

**A/N: Once again, thanks for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting.**

**I really appreciate any feedback or any sort of comment at all so thank you **guest** for those hugs and kisses, xo.**

**Love everyone,**

**-Vanesky**


	3. Equal Footing

Erik wasn't in his room in the morning so I resigned myself to the shared kitchen of the living space they assigned us.

After pouring my first cup of coffee Hank wandered in with an empty mug. As he saw me, a slightly relieved look mixed with surprise spread across his face, but it quickly disappeared when he noticed I was looking at him as well. He glanced away before greeting me, "Morning..."

I sipped my coffee and nodded in acknowledgement. Hank shuffled around and then went to rinse his mug out, "Uh, how was your night?"

"Alright, " I shrugged, wondering why he was being so fidgety, "how was yours?"

"Good, great! In the lab, getting some work done... all good..." he replied, trailing off, "You were there too for a little bit…. and you're here, not somewhere else. Here. Which is also…. good."

"It is good," I repeated after him. Frowning, I motioned around his body with my empty hand, "What is, all of this?"

"What?" He blinked, mouth hanging open.

"The way you're acting." I didn't know Hank well at all, but even the dimmest person could tell something was off.

Hank's eyes darted around looking for something distracting, but finding no immediate escape, he relented and came clean, "I was worried last night and... It's just nice to see that you're still... here."

"Oh," my brows raised in surprise that he had correctly guessed I didn't go outside to just get a breath of fresh air. "Did you think I was going to leave?"

"No, no. I, no. It's just you and your brother and," Hank struggled to find the correct words to use, "he didn't seem like, well he said something, and-"

"Hank!" A chipper voice interrupted his floundering and Hank's face visibly lit up, relieved that he had been saved from his own faltering explanation. Charles strolled in, hands in the pockets of his pants, "I've come to tell you to start that contraption of yours," he smiled, "why don't you go fetch Raven and we'll meet you there?"

Hank nodded and set off to find her, looking happy to escape from the room. Charles walked closer to me took a cup out of the cabinet, serving himself a cup of coffee. He leaned on the counter behind him and lifted the cup towards me, smile still on his face, "So, how was your evening?"

Figuring that Charles had gotten information from non-direct means, I rolled my eyes, and took another sip before speaking, "Thought I said to stay out of my head."

"Ah," he tilted his head forward, "but I did."

"I'm sure Hank wouldn't appreciate someone picking his mind like that," I said, setting the mug on the counter and crossing my arms.

"Well, if he has any grievances with me, then I would be glad to hear him out," he noted drinking from the cup, "and by the way, I do agree with him."

"Agree with what?"

"That you've stayed, I'm very happy that you did," Charles stared me on directly, face more serious than before. For some reason I couldn't hold onto his new earnest expression, so I broke his intense gaze and fixed my eye at the plain cabinet behind him.

"I'm staying with Erik," I reasoned with him, giving the same excuse I gave to my brother. Erik was the deciding factor in my decision, but I didn't want Charles to know that there were already inklings of other reasons on why I didn't want to leave.

"Even so, Lena you have the chance to become something much larger than yourself. We're all in this together now and I'm glad that you chose to become part of it," Charles reached out to pat my arm and then drank the rest of the coffee, placing the empty mug in the sink.

"Come on," he turned in the direction of the door, "Hank has something to show us."

I almost reached out to stop him, still running over what he had said. Erik had given me that same line last night for why he wanted to stay. Was Charles the main catalyst for my being here? Did he actually manage to get through to Erik? Erik listened to no one else and he trusted no one else, well besides me, but it seemed that he had given in to the man in front of me. Were we really to place our trust in him?

Charles looked over his shoulder, "Coming?"

I shook myself out of it, and decided to not let this little tidbit change anything quite yet. I still didn't know him.

"Yeah," I replied and followed him through the doors.

* * *

We stepped into a large golf ball looking installation after meeting up with the others. Inside, a middle platform was placed under a large helmet connected with wires to the various machines and computers behind it. Charles had explained to me on the way there that it was designed to amplify brain-waves.

"I call it, Cerebro," Hank said, gesturing towards the contraption.

"You?" Charles chuckled, questioning the name.

"Spanish for brain," Hank confirmed his guess.

"Yes..." his eyes lit delightfully in the presence of Hank's machine.

"Okay, so, the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof," Hank pointed at the helmet, explaining how the process worked, "When he picks up a mutant, his brain sends a signal through a relay and then the coordinates of their location are printed out here," he walked to one of the many computers.

We gravitated towards him as he explained, Raven getting closest, awe in her eyes, "You designed this?"

"Yeah," he answered looking back at the numerous buttons, cheeks faintly tinted red.

Charles climbed onto the platform and lowered the device to his head, Erik and I walked over to observe him.

"He looks like a science experiment," I noted, staring up at all the interwoven wires.

"What an adorable lab rat you make Charles," Erik said, a smirk on his lips. I snorted back a laugh.

"Don't spoil this for me, Erik," Charles responded trying to stay focused.

"I've been a lab rat," he pointed at himself, "I know one when I see one."

"Don't undersell yourself," I grinned at him, "I think you were much more adorable."

Erik breathed in a chuckle and Hank went to check on the helmet, "Okay great," after a beat he continued, "Are you sure we can't shave your head?"

Charles responded quickly, "Don't touch my hair."

"Okay," Hank said quietly and went to the back and began to click some buttons, starting Cerebro.

The room darkened and the lights on the helmets started to go off, an anxious look grew on our faces, not knowing the outcome.

Charles gasped suddenly and reached out to grip the railings. I jumped slightly in surprise and remained staring at him as his mouth started to twitch into a broad smile.

"It's working," Hank announced, the sounds of the machine's busy writing proving so.

Charles' smile grew into a laugh and his face morphed into the epitome of exhilaration, looking like an adrenaline rush had just coursed through his veins. I stayed fixated on him in awe. Pure joy spilled out from his pores as the grasp of his mind grew and the hurried sounds of the machines working became larger with it.

"Amazing," I murmured, taking a side glance at Erik who watched him just as intently as I did just prior. He nodded silently in response, but I could see the faint smile on his lips.

A heightened ball of energy grew in my stomach as I continued to observe Charles. For a fraction of a second his bright eyes flickered into mine and it almost felt as if I was feeling along with him. I could imagine the mass of minds he was rapidly coursing through and the many lives he was about to change. All the lives we were all about to change together.

* * *

"I'll be back soon," Erik said, as we stood outside the CIA base. He stepped in for a hug which I quickly reciprocated.

"Soon," I replied into his leather clad shoulder, before stepping back to look over him once more, "Remember, a souvenir."

He smirked and leaned down to pick his suitcase up, "What, blood and honor isn't good enough?"

I huffed out a laugh. Erik's humor was dark and infrequent, but nonetheless I appreciated when it did manage to show itself.

I peeked over at Charles who was saying similar goodbyes to Raven. His eyes caught mine and I gave him a pointed look, trying to convey to him to look after Erik. Not that Erik needed looking after, but it was something like that more or less. We hadn't known Charles for long, but I could tell in that in this short period of time Erik had at least developed some respect for the man. I wouldn't outright call them buddies, and though I had not yet even decided where I stood with the mind reader, I knew that it would be more beneficial for Erik to go on this trip with just Charles, me not included.

It wasn't like I wasn't dependable or unable to take care of myself, but I knew no matter what Erik would always see himself as my elder brother. My presence has always been one to watch after, to protect, even if it wasn't clear to him. Seeing Erik able to level with someone on equal footing made me want to fortify their relationship. The two of us always watched out for each other, but I wanted him to have this. It would be good for him.

Breaking my gaze from Charles, I looked back to Erik and reached up to brush some stray hair back, my thumb resting on the light scar above his lip, "You never could get facial hair to grow on there."

He chuckled and the crinkles of his blue eyes pulled out a muddy picture from my mind of a similar yet older looking man with the exact same ones. I could never fathom how a family with blue eyes could produce their only daughter with brown.

One of the identical town cars pulled up and I brought my hand back, taking a step away to let him go. The men placed their suitcases in the trunk and walked up to open the doors, preparing to enter the car. Before stepping in Erik took another look back at me, "Bis bald," he said, before the door closed shut.

The car drove down the road, the sun gleaming down on the black exterior. I crossed my arms as it slowly disappeared from my view, "Bis bald."

* * *

**A/N: Hello lovelies! I apologize for this long gap but here I am, even though this chapter is kind of short, I promise the next will be longer. ****Just want to say I am so flattered by the response this story has gotten, I am amazingly flattered, thank you all so much.**

**Bis bald - See you soon**

**I appreciate everyone who ****favorites, follows, and reviews, it keeps the morale up!**

**Superdani4ever: Yes! Loving the Hank, that little awkward bundle of nerves. And I know that this only the 3rd chapter, but I have plot written out for a dofp sequel so I already have an idea, which I hope you like when the time comes even though it'll probably take a while. (lol, the dofp plot is probably more detailed than the one for first class. Is that bad? I think that's bad.)**

**cat-afterlife: Thank you! And bam, here's the update.**

**witchdeveraux: Reviews are always appreciated no matter what so thanks! I'm glad that you like the characterizations so far, Erik tends to be a pretty bitter guy so I was excited to write a more warm side of him while keeping with his original personality.**

**dearmaggie: Haha, this is more like a text than a review, but watevvs. You better get writing! I miss your stories.**

**sumplan182: I actually watched the movie a couple of times and wrote down the times for certain scenes, so thanks for that, I appreciate it. I totally imagine it as a movie scene as I write it out so I guess it's working, haha.**

**Skyeward MusicLover: Here you go! And thanks!**

**Guest: I love you!**

**Bobfred: No Bob, you're awesome.**

**Aranel Silvertone: Thanks for the compliment. I actually laughed out loud since I got the notification of your review right when I opened up my draft for this chapter, so spot on timing. I plan to keep writing this when I can, but I hope that means more often with longer chapters. And good luck to you also for whatever endeavors you're pursuing!**


	4. Vanilla Unicorn

I knocked on Raven's door to once again receive no response. Moira had just let me know that Erik and Charles were successful and were coming back by tomorrow. I wanted to update Raven right away. I knocked once more and sighed, pressing my forehead against the cold wood. The past two days of staying behind at the CIA base had been ultimately the right choice, but that didn't mean I reveled in it.

The meals that brought Hank, Raven and I, together were pleasant. They were good people, though the nervous glances and quick peeks they gave each other were too obvious to ignore. Raven always insisted I stayed with them, but I often found myself alone in my bedroom or walking around the grassy outskirts of the facility. I've never been very social and I wasn't about to drastically change anything about my solitary habits, I just missed the quiet presence that was usually sharing the silence with me.

Still trying to find her I reluctantly headed to Hank's lab, not knowing where else to look. My heels echoed across the empty hall, my pace slowing as I got closer to the door. If Hank was awkward and shy with Raven then it was mild in comparison to when we happened to find ourselves alone. Though I had no idea what happened, something Erik said or given the impression of, made having a normal conversation one on one conversation with him nearly impossible.

I opened the large metal doors to see Hank hunched over, going back and forth from rapidly writing on a legal pad, peering into whatever was underneath a microscope, and working some machine connected to it.

"Hank," I said to catch his attention.

"Hmm?" He hummed, still focused on what he was doing.

"Do you know where Raven is?" I got to his table and set my hands on the cool steel top.

Hank turned his head up to answer, "No I-," he fumbled, his eyes widening as they finally caught mine, "Lena, hi, wasn't expe- no I don't," Hank paused momentarily to push his glasses up, "know where she is. Do you need her for something?"

"Yes, Erik and Charles should be back tomorrow with someone," I drummed my fingers on the smooth surface and scanned across his very organized work space, "Our first recruit."

"That's uh, exciting," Hank replied, twirling the pencil in his hand before adjusting one of the dials on the machine.

I leaned in to take a further look at his equipment, barring a slight resemblance to the workings of his other creation, Cerebro. "What is all of this?" I asked, my curiosity peaked.

"Oh this? Hank refocused on his setup, "I'm trying to see if Cerebro can be more efficient, it's powerful now, but I think it has a lot more potential." He gestured at the microscope, "Charles volunteered a bit of his DNA so I'm running some trials to explore the results when exposed to other substances like electromagnetic radiation or to be more specific radio waves or microwaves or…" He stopped as if catching himself, and looked back up at me, "It's not really anything big."

"No," I shook my head, "It's impressive. I've never had a formal education, so this is all…" I peered in closer to the lab, "very… enlightening. It is 'big', what you're doing."

Hank sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Thanks. That's um, really nice of you to say." He sat back on one of the tall stools and twirled his pencil again before setting it down. After a long lull as he had finally decided on something, he opened his mouth again, "Your brother, he doesn't seem to like me much."

My brows raised at the seemingly non-sporadic Hank who was actively making conversation with me even if it was only about Erik. "He doesn't tend to like anyone much," I agreed with him.

"Right," he nodded blankly, and hesitantly opened his mouth again, "Did he say anything to you?"

My head quirked to the side, "About what?"

"No, no, it's nothing," Hank hurriedly waved the topic away.

"Alright," I replied, still confused on what exactly had transpired. Another long pause settled into the empty lab, signaling me that it was my time to go until Hank carefully reached out once more and spoke.

"So, did you ever get the chance to?"

"To?"

"To go to school, I mean. Being able to do what I do, it's helped me alot with… everything, and you seem interested, so I…" He drifted off, not looking directly at me.

"Bits and pieces here and there," I pulled in a nearby stool under me and smoothed down my skirt, "By the time I was born things were not _ideal_. Erik went to the local Synagogue when he could, then…" a grim smile barely graced my lips, "Our parents did the best they were able to, but mostly everything I do know was either taught by myself or Erik."

"Oh," Hank's eyes held a sympathetic gaze though oddly enough it didn't feel like the pity I used to be accustomed to, "If you ever want to learn about any of this," he hastily cleared the words from his throat and then motioned to the lab, "feel free to ask."

My eyes widened at his surprising kindness, "I might take you up on that. Thank you."

"Yeah," Hank nodded and went back to looking down and twirling his pencil before restarting his work, "I'll just be here."

"I'll let you get back to it, then," I said as I rose from the stool. I pressed my lips together in a tight line, swallowing the small lump at the back of my throat. As I turned, the doors opened to a cheerful looking Raven holding a plate of pastries.

"I brought muffins this time," she announced as she entered the room. "Lena," she greeted me, "I didn't think you'd be here. Want one?" She gestured the plate towards my direction.

"No, thanks," I shook my head and was finally able to follow through my original goal, "Actually Moira just told me that Erik and Charles should be back tomorrow with someone."

Raven responded with a broad grin, "More reason to celebrate. C'mon, take one," she leaned the plate over to me again.

I managed a small appreciative smile and relented, taking one of the not so sweet looking ones as I made my way past her, "If you insist."

"You're not staying?" Raven asked seeing me walk to the door, "Dinner then?"

"Yeah," I agreed with her as I left the lab, preferring to leave those two to be alone together.

* * *

"Everyone, this is Angel," Charles announced as a dark haired girl followed him into the room, "She'll be joining us from now on."

"Hi guys," she waved a bit sarcastically, "I guess I'm a part of, whatever this is."

Raven immediately went up to her and smiled, "I'm Raven," then pointed at us, "That's Hank and Lena."

I nodded in acknowledgment, but Hank followed Raven's steed and joined her in greeting Angel. Raven started to lead her to the door, "C'mon, I'll show you around."

"I'm not really well versed in secret CIA facilities, so that would be helpful," Angel quipped. Raven giggled and pulled her through to the hallway, closing the door behind them.

The three of them left, leaving me, Erik, and Charles. Erik, who had before stood silently as the welcoming party had happened, walked to me, pulling something from him back pocket.

"Here," he handed me the item. I took it and brought it up to the light. The item was a worn out coaster and on it was a detailed drawing of a unicorn circled by the words _Vanilla Unicorn Strip Club_. "It's your souvenir," he smirked as I rotated the hard cardboard around my fingers.

"You really tried this time didn't you?" I looked up at him, a laugh struggled to escape from the back of my throat.

"I always do," he pulled me in for a hug and I could smell the familiar familial scent I was accustomed to. Even if I wasn't willing to admit it to his face, I really did miss him.

"Should I be worried?"

Erik squeezed my shoulder and shrugged, walking to the small bar to pour himself a drink.

Charles gestured at him, "Pour me one as well, dry." He smiled sheepishly at us, "Long flights don't quite agree with me."

"If you are so worried, come with us to the next one," Erik said as he handed a glass to Charles.

"Will we be going to another strip club?"

Charles downed his scotch and grinned, "If you're lucky."

* * *

**A/N: Ahh, who even am I? Seriously, what am I doing?**

**I know, I promised something longer, sorry! I'll definitely do something more length heavy next chapter. It works out better with the way I've planned this story.**

**Thanks to, NicoleR85, AboveReality, and KurisutaruAi, for the reviews!**

**KurisutaruAi: I'm continuing this! It just takes me an embarrassingly long time to write stuff. I'm terrible. Thanks for that, I kinda imagine Lena like a stray cat, it's going to take a bit until she fully warms up to him.**

**Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed my story! **

**Until next time, Vanesky**


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